Sweetly
by ceruleanoceans
Summary: A compilation of loosely unconnected stories about the melancholy marriage between Sasuke and Sakura.
1. one

**A/N:** This story was originally written and posted in December of 2012 as a lengthy one-shot, but per request of my readers, I have decided to continue it. Therefore, I will be turning this story into a small series of vignettes concerning Sasuke and Sakura. Thank you all for your support, and I hope you enjoy.

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"Love? it's like a cigarette. You get addicted fast, but it slowly and painfully kills you from the inside out."

**— Alli Ward**

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He woke up to the sweet aroma of cinnamon. He rubbed his eyes to repair his blurred vision, crawling out from underneath the thick blanket covering him. He maneuvered to the nearest window, peeking behind the cream-colored curtains. The young Uchiha knew instinctively that it was at least around six in the morning, for the sun had not yet risen from the behind the mountains, and the sky was painted a peculiar shade of violet.

"What the hell could that woman be doing up so early?" he mumbled to himself. He grabbed his navy blue robe, which had been casually tossed on the trunk at the edge of their bed, and quickly threw it around his shoulders and fastened the belt.

As his slow pace brought him closer to the kitchen, the scent of cinnamon grew thicker. The young Uchiha had no sweet tooth to speak of, but with his beloved constantly cooking up sugary concoctions in the kitchen, he had no choice but to shove them down his throat. It was a bit comical to him that her hair was unusually candy-colored and that she seemingly had the most deadly sweet tooth in the world. He was amazed that she was able to keep such a trim figure with such eating habits, but then he casually reminded himself that she was a skilled medical-nin with physical strength that surpassed his own.

Sakura was all by her lonesome, but anticipated his entrance. There were two cups of steaming hot tea and a plate of freshly baked cinnamon rolls in the center of their tiny dinner table. He noticed that her candy-colored hair was damp, perhaps from just getting out of the shower. She was wearing a white robe with the Uchiha emblem placed firmly on the back, which actually belonged to him.

"I see you take pleasure in wearing my clothes," Sasuke commented as he sat down across from her.

"Sorry," the cherry blossom replied, her voice sincere. "I haven't had the opportunity to return home and retrieve my belongings. The only clothes I have at the moment are a few summer dresses and my mission attire." She released an exasperated sigh and began mindlessly gazing out the window, ignoring the tea and cinnamon rolls.

Sasuke reached for a cinnamon roll despite his first instinct to leave them be due to his lack of appetite for pastries. Sakura's pale green eyes flickered over to meet his. "You don't have to eat those you, you know. I know you don't like sweets."

They stared at each other blankly for several minutes before Sasuke let out a deep breath and began shoving the oversized cinnamon roll in his mouth, as if to prove her wrong even though she was right. Sasuke ate at least three of the cinnamon rolls and washed it down with the jade tea that Sakura had prepared. Sakura seemed to have lost her appetite this morning, as she had only eaten one cinnamon roll, which had taken her at least forty-five minutes to finish off. Under normal circumstances, she could devour an entire plate of cinnamon rolls in that amount of time. As she slowly tore away pieces from the fresh pastry, she stared vacantly at Sasuke, who pretended not to notice her focused gaze.

He felt his chest heat up when her peculiar green eyes were concentrated on him. Glancing up at those focused green eyes, he wondered what could be running through her mind. He wondered what she thought when she looked at him so deeply. One small but substantial piece of knowledge that Sasuke had buried within his mind was that a woman's heart was full of treasures that no man could ever begin to comprehend. Sasuke knew this with certainty and kept it in the shadowy parts of his mind all throughout his life. It was a lesson that his mother had taught him just through his observations of her as a mindless child. This bit of data came in great use in his relationship with Sakura. Sakura wasn't one to suppress her emotions, but even when she lashed out in tears and violence, Sasuke _still_ couldn't what was running through her mind and how she felt.

When an hour passed, Sakura grabbed both their empty cups and began washing them in the sink. She put the rest of the cinnamon rolls in a small lunch basket, planning to deliver them to Ino's house later on in the afternoon. When she finished rinsing all the dishes, she dried her hands off on a white hand towel wrapped around the stove handle.

A pair of strong arms locked around her from behind. His touch sent electricity spiraling throughout her fragile body, but she soon found herself relaxed, leaning against his finely sculpted chest. She closed her eyes as he began planting kisses down her neck, slowly and fervently. He found the resolve to carry her off to the bedroom. Sasuke became somewhat of a mindless beast when it came to physical passion, and Sakura constantly had to remind him that she was somewhat brittle underneath his touch. There was no question that she could break every bone in his body if she were to punch him with all her might. Despite her brute strength, she was gentle and easy to dominate over in the bedroom. She didn't allow herself to be _completely_ dominated, much to Sasuke's chagrin. Sakura had an overpowering aspiration to please him, which sometimes meant that she would take the lead and force him beneath her.

He laid her down flat on the bed and crawled on top of her. He opened the front of her robe and gazed down at her elfin body with famished eyes. He began trailing his fingers across her skin, memorizing every curve and crevice. He felt an irresistible craving to bond with her. She was the one who saved him, after all. This delicate spring flower was the one human being who gazed beyond the mistakes he made in the past, washed away the blood on his hands, and brought solace to his clustered mind. Her love – her deep-rooted love for him – was pure. A love he hadn't felt seep through the chambers of his heart since he was a small child in his mother's arms.

They gave each other pleasure repeatedly in their oversized bed. There were instances in which Sasuke became too rough for her liking, and Sakura reminded him with her eyes to be gentle with her. He found himself having to cover her mouth with his hand at times, keeping her paranoia of someone hearing them in mind. When they were too physically drained to continue, Sasuke laid in her arms, burying his face in her chest. She stroked his jet-black hair and sang a wordless lullaby to him. He fondled her cheekbones and fell silent, rendered speechless at the love they had just made.

Sakura stared up the ceiling, trying to recall how she made it to this place. It felt like just yesterday when a blood-drenched Uchiha Sasuke came stumbling home in tattered clothes, asking for food and water. He was injured severely when he returned, and she was assigned to heal him by Tsunade herself. Sakura cursed her mentor when she first received the orders, unsure of how she was supposed to act around Sasuke. After all, she had tearfully confessed her love for him and offered to sacrifice her happiness all for the sake of helping him get his vengeance. In response to her offer, he knocked her out cold and left her lying on a stone bench with his last words to her echoing in her dreams. The night he departed haunted her for months afterward, and it only brought guilt upon her for not being able to stop him.

Sasuke was astounded by her behavior towards him when he came back to the village. For the longest time, he viewed her as a porcelain doll through his eyes. He felt that if he were to touch her, she would shatter into a million pieces. Sakura avoided direct eye contact with him and barely uttered any words to him while tending to his injuries. He had to admit that when they first encountered one another after so many years of disconnection, he was half-expecting her to throw herself on him and cry as she used when they were children. When she didn't crash into him and wrap her arms around his neck at first sight, he was taken back, struck with absolute bafflement. He concluded by her initial actions towards him that she was no longer the person he once knew. The easily breakable girl with the rosy cheeks and short temper had seemingly vanished. She had disappeared, and a _woman_ had taken her place.

Sasuke realized throughout his time spent at Konoha's hospital that the Sakura he knew as a child wasn't _completely_ gone. He received frequent visits from his former comrades, and Sasuke gathered from her relationship with Naruto that she was still somewhat of a short fuse. Her strength had doubled in impact and yet she handled each of her patients with gentle hands and a warm smile. Sasuke came to grasp through his experience in Konoha's infirmary that Haruno Sakura was no longer a girl. Her only childish quality was her hair, as its color represented all little girls and delicate things in the world. Otherwise, she had matured tremendously. He only managed to avoid being scolded by this new womanly Sakura by constantly aligning himself with her good graces. _The majority of the time_.

"So obnoxious," he breathed.

Sakura's snapped out of her daydream and looked down at him, "What's obnoxious?" she demanded.

Sasuke stroked the ends of her hair. "The color…" The young Uchiha trailed off, finding it unreasonable to finish his statement. He was silently waiting for a response from her, expecting it to be violent. He dearly hoped she wouldn't lash out at him, but if she did, he knew had had brought it upon himself.

Sakura sat up, forcing him up along with her. She gazed into his eyes, and could measure that he was tired, based upon his dull expression. Even now after being with him for so long, she _still_ unsure of how she should counter his words and actions. Her uncertainty of how she should perform around him wasn't because she was frightened of him or anything of the sort, but rather because she had barely managed to scratch the surface of his protective skin. Heaven knew that Sasuke was petrified of allowing people to get close to him, out of fear that they would all betray him once they had his trust. Sakura was one of the few who managed to catch small glimpses into his irreparable soul, but this was a privilege she was only recently granted.

"It might be obnoxious," she whispered into his ear, "but this is the thread that ties me to you."

Sasuke obscured his face into her breasts, listening to the sound of her rapid heartbeat. He held her close to him one last time before crawling out of bed to prepare for his mission. As captain of the most skilled squad in the ANBU Black Ops, his job sometimes came above all else – even Sakura. There were times where she was left alone for days on end without him while he was out on duty. It also happened vice versa. Sakura was constantly patching up patients in the hospital or traveling on dangerous assignments. The small amount of time they had to spend with one another never went wasted.

Sasuke was sitting on the front porch, wrapping bandages around his ankles. Sakura approached him from behind, but instead of getting down on her knees to embrace him, she lingered in the doorway. His squadron had already arrived, bowing their heads down in acknowledgement, to which she simply responded with her sweetest smile. Sasuke rose from the wooden porch and turned around to face Sakura. He stared into her watery green eyes for several minutes before kissing her on the forehead and disappearing into the abyss with his comrades.

"Did you sleep well, Uchiha-san?" asked one of his comrades, whose face was concealed behind a mask that resembled a bear.

Sasuke's dark eyes flickered back at the man in the bear mask. He didn't know the young boy behind the mask on a personal level, but the boy had made it very clear to Sasuke that he was dedicated to him. If Sasuke didn't know any better, the man in the bear mask _idolized_ him.

"What there was of it," he responded monotonously. Sasuke turned his head halfway and noticed a pink thread attached to his shoulder. He pinched it between his gloved fingers, realizing it was a strand of Sakura's hair, which most likely fell out while she was doing laundry.

_This is the thread that ties me to you._

Her words echoed in his head repeatedly, forcing a smile upon his face. As he let the pink thread fly away in the gentle breeze that swept through the landscape, he thought of Sakura and wondered… _What the hell could that woman have been doing up so early?_


	2. two

When Sasuke returned to Konoha, he practically lived in the hospital. The nurses, and even Tsunade, were convinced that he needed psychiatric treatment. Since he refused to see any doctors about his mental state, Tsunade told the hospital to treat him as if he were a king. The staff was given strict orders to make his residency there as pleasurable as possible, all because Tsunade believed it would help his mind recover from the darkness that clouded it.

This so-called treatment must have worked, because Sasuke's eyes were no longer angry. They were tired and lifeless to say the least. Once his dark eyes shifted from vengeful to monotonous, he began wandering around Konoha aimlessly. He didn't visit any former companions, although he was seemingly polite enough to make mindless chatter when he encountered them on the streets. After several weeks of wandering, he asked Tsunade's permission to leave the hospital, claiming that he found a house appropriate for him.

"If you're hoping to start dwelling in the Uchiha clan's former compound, then I'm afraid I can't accept your request," Tsunade responded. "I received several requests from various architects to tear it down in order to build apartment complexes in the area in order to cope with Konoha's growing population. I'm sorry, Sasuke."

Sasuke fell silent, and his gloomy eyes shifted down to the tile floor. A reaction that was highly unforeseen, as Tsunade thought he might respond to her words angrily. After ten minutes of utter stillness between them, Sasuke raised his head and stared directly into the Slug Queen's light brown eyes, shoving his hands in the pockets of his black pants.

"That's fine," he declared. "You can pound it to rubble with your own fists for all I care."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "You make it sound like I was asking your permission."

The Slug Queen was nonetheless amazed to discover that Sasuke had no intentions of dwelling within the Uchiha clan's former compound. He claimed to have found a home that was suitable for him, most likely with his future family in mind, and even offered to display it to Tsunade. It was his understanding that he needed her approval before making any drastic moves on his own, and if he had to live under her watchful eye in order to gain her trust, he would do it willingly. Once he received consent from Tsunade, Sasuke moved into the outsized mahogany house.

Not long after he began living there, Sasuke invited Sakura in one night for dinner, in an attempt to ally himself with her good graces. They prattled over sashimi and saké, which ended with a drunken Sakura crying her bottle green eyes out over how Sasuke had broken her heart. The girl even tried to slap him, but Sasuke grabbed her by the wrists and began kissing her feverishly, and felt somewhat delighted when she responded to him. This only resulted in lovemaking, and after that night, Sakura became a permanent guest in Sasuke's home.

The house felt ghostly without Sasuke's presence. The air turned chilly when he left for his mission, and Sakura was left to her own meaningless devices. Instead of spending her time inside as Sasuke suggested, in order to avoid falling ill from the heinous warmth outside, Sakura busied herself in the garden. She tended to the watermelons and mindlessly stared off into space.

When she first arrived, it all felt so recognizable, as if she'd encountered it before in a distant part of her life. After spending a week memorizing every room and hallway of the house, she realized that it was unusually similar to his childhood home.

When she came to such a shocking realization, it made her raise an eyebrow at the mahogany structure. It was finely crafted, and no less of an antique than the village itself. She wondered what could have possessed the man to buy a home that was vaguely familiar to the one he was brought up in, given the trauma that took place underneath its roof. Sakura's reaction wasn't astonishing. Anyone else who knew the essential details of Uchiha Sasuke's youth would surely respond to such an epiphany in the same way she did. After all, his darling mother and father were–

"I thought I told you to stay inside."

Sakura felt her soul escape her skin for a split second, frightened by his unexpected entrance. _How long had he been standing there?_ She turned her head and saw Sasuke admiring her from afar, his eyes disapproving. She looked down at the watermelons she was rinsing off and smiled to herself. After maneuvering to turn the hose off, she rolled it up and hung it on the hook attached to the outside wall of the house. She put her hands behind her back and shot Sasuke and embarrassed expression.

Sasuke raised his eyebrows. "When I was a child, my mother used to tell me that too much exposure to extreme heat can make someone's head spin. Now I know what she was talking about," he humored, amused by Sakura's mortification.

Sakura smiled at him gently, as she always seemed to on those rare occasions where he mentioned his deceased mother. She scanned his body for wounds, and then saw bandages wrapped around his left arm. When she was within his proximity, she wrapped her childlike fingers around his muscular arm, her eyes painted with grief. They met eyes, and Sasuke shook his head from side to side, wordlessly telling her to stop tormenting herself over such an insignificant injury. Sakura blinked in puzzlement, wondering if the sun was having more of a consequence on him than it was on her.


	3. three

**A/N:** If anyone is confused at this point, I promise the storyline will all make sense once this story is completed. This is my first time playing around with nonlinear narrative, so please be patient with me.

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**Flashback**

When she asked for permission to leave the house, only her mother seemed to be bothered by it. Actually, her mother _refused_ to allow her to leave because she didn't want her daughter "fooling around with that Uchiha-boy."

If it weren't for her understanding father, Sakura might not have gotten the edge required to depart the house, but not even the arguments of her dear father seemed thick enough.

"I think Sakura can go and visit her friend if she wants," he said before taking a bite out of a green apple. He was sitting at the dining room table with an open book in hand, not taking his eyes off the words.

Her mother, who was doing the dishes in the nearby kitchen, shot him an intense glare, although it got no reaction out of her husband. "That Uchiha-boy is bad news. If it weren't for Lady Tsunade's mercy, he would still be a criminal."

Sakura felt her blood simmer beneath ivory skin. Her pale green eyes grew glossy with irritation. "His _name_ is _Sasuke_, and it was Lady Tsunade herself who ordered me to keep an eye on him while he's in the infirmary."

"You can't keep her away from work, honey," her father stated.

"It seems to me that caring for the boy is no longer work," her mother snapped. "She's been visiting him almost three times a day now. _Something_ is going on."

Sakura cursed under her breath and stomped out of the dining room rapidly, her parents quietly bickering behind her. She didn't care what they were saying, too angry to make out any noises other than the sound of her hummingbird heartbeat. The cherry blossom slammed her bedroom door shut, locking it in order to keep everyone else out.

With eyes watering and tiny breaths escaping from her lips, she felt her body temperature lower. Her blood, which had been boiling so profusely only a few short minutes ago, finally settled and began flowing easily. She began panting as if she had just finished running a marathon, and sighed with relief when she finally calmed herself. The last thing she wanted was to break her mother's bones.

Ever since she was taken under Ino's wing as a child, she began forming an unbreakable backbone. Her bones became radiant and strong, her heart grew defiant, and she became somewhat of a short fuse. As an adolescent, she often lashed out at Naruto and even got into wild arguments with her parents – mostly her mother. Her father didn't have much of a fighting spirit. The only person he seemed to quarrel with was his wife, and even then, he wouldn't put up much of a stand against her.

Sakura's parents were aware of her short temper. They witnessed it more than anyone else did, and the consequences only seemed to grow in strength as the years went by, as did their daughter.

When she began training under Lady Tsunade, the childish girl with the candy-colored hair changed dramatically. Once Tsunade accepted Sakura's plea to make her stronger, it was as if she woke up the next morning and decided to be someone different. She evolved from a selfish princess into a weapon. A weapon that began protecting everything that needed protected. She fixed people who were thought to be irreparable. Her blood didn't seem to burn as hot as it once did, but Sakura _did_ occasionally slip. The elegant demeanor she spent so much time attaining would vanish, and she turned into a monster with unrivaled supremacy. Even Ino, who Sakura considered a mentor of sorts, was no longer a match for her.

The girl's mother knew this, and she knew it well. She was aware that her daughter could crack her skull with just a tap on the forehead.

_My mother knows this_, thought Sakura_, so why does she provoke me?_

Before an insufferable amount of questions flooded her sharp mind, she began the process of cleaning out her head. Unknown to others, Sakura had talent when it came to blocking out pain.

She fell back against the rosewood door and slid to the floor, wrapping her arms around her knees. She buried her face and began wondering how Sasuke was soldiering at the hospital without her there. The blossom's concerns for him didn't arise out of doubt, because she knew – perhaps better than anyone else did – how strong Uchiha Sasuke was. When he fell against the powerful boy Haku in the Land of Waves, although she cried tears over his seemingly lifeless body, she held out hope that perhaps he was still alive. That fate had been kind and left a little life in him. She believed this, even when everyone else thought his soul had already slipped from this world to the next.

True, Sasuke _was_ strong. Even in his current condition, which left him frail and broken, he was strong. When he first arrived in the village, Tsunade informed Sakura and the others that it would take him months to recover, both psychologically and physically. She was correct, although his treatment was going so well that he was healing a bit faster than everyone assumed he would.

Even so…Sakura couldn't help but…want to see him. Her mother spoke nothing but the truth when she claimed that Sakura was visiting Sasuke too often, and at first, Sakura lied to everyone (even herself) and said that he needed the care. Truthfully, Sasuke didn't need Sakura as a babysitter, but Sakura was growing so attached to him against her will that she wanted to be around him all the time. She _enjoyed_ taking care of him and making sure that he was in the best of health. It had become the highlight of her day, and the fact that she had the opportunity to see him three times within a twenty-four hour period only seemed to make her more chipper. It was an unexplainable phenomenon, mysterious in its own right.

Sakura released a sigh and looked up at her bedroom window, gazing at the sickle moon sewn in the black canopy covering the sky. Her bottle green eyes turned sly, and she rose from the hardwood floors. She sat down on her bed and slipped on her most casual pair of ninja sandals. Then, she ran a comb through her hair and slid the window open. She positioned herself carefully on the ledge and looked back at her plain room once, before she jumped down onto the gravel beneath and began traveling to infirmary, determined to treat her patient.


	4. four

One lovely day in May, Sakura wakes up to find her stomach in knots. As her vision sharpens, she finds nearly her entire body wrapped in clean bandages, around her arms and down her torso. The cream-colored robe covering her body smelled of lilacs, the laundry detergent she and Sasuke used.

The walls surrounding her weren't unfamiliar. She spent a fair amount of time encased within them. This was the bedroom she shared with her husband, although he was nowhere in sight. Her tired eyes flickered over to the oversized window, where no source of light beamed from behind the curtains. She took it to be early morning and savored the tranquility. Sasuke was most likely in the backyard carrying out his morning training, a routine he recently began after Nara Shikamaru suggested it. Even on Sundays, he woke up before dawn to train both mentally and physically.

As Sakura lay flat on her back with her stomach twisting, she tried to recall the last few hours of her life. Her memory was a blank canvas with a few splashes of paint scattered across it. The blue resembled the sky, the green resembled the lush forest, and red…resembled the blood. She could vaguely recall her blood gushing from various cuts in her body, the bruises taking root throughout her ivory skin. She couldn't remember whom or what caused these injuries, but she knew that her forgotten opponent must have been formidable. She hadn't seen injuries like this since her battle with Sasori of the Red Sand, and all the wounds she attained in that battle were minor compared to these.

Her mind then went back to Sasuke. How did he react when he received the news? Surely he must have been busy at the time this all took place. Did the news cause him to panic? Did he rush to her side as quickly as possible or did he calmly wait until his business finished and then come to greet her as she slept? Sakura hoped the first scenario was the truth. It would be lovely for Sasuke to fret over her in such a loving manner, but considering his personality, he probably reacted to her hospitalization in an emotionless approach, not showing any signs of anguish. He never did when they were Genin, so she wouldn't expect his mannerisms to change now. The most Sasuke ever did to pay his respects toward an injured comrade was visiting them in the hospital, and usually only after being invited by someone else.

Before she could think back on all the hospital visits she took place in, Sakura spotted Sasuke leaning in the bedroom doorway with his arms crossed defensively. His coal black eyes were narrow with anger, causing anxiety to wash through Sakura's body. _Oh no_. What had she done? When they were children, she received this cold glare from him on more than one occasion. That was when she was childish and irritating, chasing after him and claiming him as if he were a prize.

Things had changed though. She was no longer a princess with a childlike crush, and he was no longer a vengeful child with an overwhelming sense of entitlement. Entitlement to whatever he desired regardless of other people, because his life had been oh so tragic that he could take and leave as he pleased. The face he wore before her now reminded Sakura of that pompous boy whom she met in the academy. He never exchanged this expression with her these days, although she did see him exchange it with others. The young boy in the ANBU squad who couldn't get into the swing of things. The enemy on the battlefield who taunted him with ill-spoken words regarding the Uchiha. This day marked the first time in years that Sasuke shot Sakura a harsh expression.

"Sasuke–"

"Don't speak," he interrupted, his voice tainted with rage. A low growl rumbled in the back of his throat.

Sakura felt her throat swell, as if she were about to cry, but alas no tears streamed down her cheeks. Her lips parted in confusion, allowing a small breath to slip in between. She always reacted this way when people expressed ill feelings towards her.

"What were you _thinking,_ Sakura?" he continued. "You're perfectly aware that you could have _died_ out there, right?" Sasuke's voice grew slightly louder each time he began a new sentence. "I know you're smarter than this. So I want to know exactly what was running through your mind when you–"

Although it caused her great pain to move, Sakura managed to sit herself up in bed as Sasuke spoke. He stopped speaking abruptly when she put her hand up to him, wordlessly silencing him. Her eyes were fierce but tinted with confusion.

"May I please speak?" she asked rhetorically. Without receiving his permission, she continued. "Let me start off by informing you that I have absolutely no memory of what caused this mess." She looked down at her broken body. "So before you come in here and start raising your voice at me, you should at least give me time to rehabilitate."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows. "You don't remember?"

Sakura shrugged, causing another wave of pain to spiral through her body. She cringed in pain and fell back against the headboard. Sasuke came to sit on the bedside. He took the damp towel around his neck and pressed it gently against her forehead. His rage ostensibly vanished.

"What happened to me?" she murmured.

"I didn't get filled on all the details," he answered, "but apparently you got engaged in combat with a group of rogue ninja in the midst of traveling back to the village from a mission. It's my understanding that Ino was on the verge of death, and that one of the rogues was in the process of trying to finish her off before you jumped in front of her and took the blow. Neither you nor Ino came out unscathed. Ino is in worse condition than you are if you can believe it."

Even though she had no recollection of these events, Sakura believed it wholeheartedly. After all, Ino was her closest companion, her best friend. They took turns helping one another in times of despair, so who's to say that Sakura wouldn't take a blow intended to end Ino's life? That Ino wouldn't have done the same if the situation reversed. Even if the target weren't Ino, Sakura would have done it anyway.

Such maneuvers went against her standards and principles as a Medical-Nin. When she began her training with Lady Tsunade as a young teenager, the first lesson she learned was that she must dodge every attack and avoid any fatal injuries. The goal of a Medical-Nin was to heal those who fell in battle, and if the Medical-Nin should die then their presence would have been in vain. In fact, one could say that if a Medical-Nin died, the death of their comrades was on_ their_ shoulders…_their_ fault. Sakura felt at odds with Tsunade's bitter teachings and the twisted principles of a Medical-Nin. Those who weren't working as one couldn't possibly understand the trials that came along with it. Many thought that Medical-Nins were simply weaklings, dead weight only good for sealing gashes in the fragile skin. There were rules that interfered with personal morals and beliefs, and Sakura was perhaps one of the first to break them. She found herself in countless situations where she brushed arms with death, a result of sacrificing herself for a comrade.

"Will she be all right?" Sakura asked. A small whimper crept in the back of her throat, as if she might burst into tears any second.

"Yeah," Sasuke whispered softly, "from what I understand, her entire ribcage was shattered. There are bruises and cuts adorning her body, too. It's nothing they can't heal with a few days of intensive care, but even after that she'll need to stay in bed for a while." He stood up from the bed, placing his hands on his hips. "The same goes for you."

"What about your missions?" Sakura panicked. "You can't stay here and take care of me the entire time! What about your–"

She froze midsentence, her tired eyes widening with a mysterious emotion laced in them. When she covered her mouth with the palm of her hand, Sasuke raised an eyebrow in perplexity. Without any warning or even a request for help, she flipped the blanket off her and ran out of the bedroom. Sasuke followed quickly behind, and held her lengthy hair behind her as she bent over the toilet vomiting.

When she finished, he grabbed a rag from the towel rack and ran it underneath hot water running out the faucet. He then began wiping around her mouth gently, dabbing the sides of her lips. Sakura coughed up chunks into her mouth, and she limped to the sink and turned on the cold water. She took handfuls of water and rinsed out her mouth as clean as possible. Once she finished, she washed the residue down the drain and began breathing heavily.

"Are you all right?" Sasuke queried. His concern was slightly obvious by the tone of his voice. He still held her hair in his hands as she leaned over the sink.

"Yes, I'm fine," she smiled. She stood up straight and turned around to face him, cringing in the slight pain that curved with her every movement. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and stared at her husband with gleeful eyes. "Could you carry me?"

Sasuke smirked. "I hope you're not planning to take advantage of this situation." With one swift but carefully executed movement, he lifted her up into his arms, cradling her as if she were a small child. Not wanting to stir her stomach, he began slowly pacing towards the bedroom.

Sakura felt comfort wrapped in his muscular arms, resting her head against his chest. She closed her eyes, and Sasuke thought she drifted off into sleep before she began murmuring small sentences. "That was so strange… Wasn't even feeling sick… Probably caught a cold while I was out there… Can't be good in my condition."

"Certainly not," Sasuke breathed.

He entered the bedroom, laid the sleeping maiden gently on the bed, and then lightly tossed the thick comforter over her once again. Then he pulled back and placed his hands firmly on his hips once again. A frown crept across his face. After listening to her breathing for several minutes, he exited the room, allowing her to sleep peacefully. He took a seat in the living room and wondered how Sakura could have caught the stomach flu on a mission.

Sasuke's suspicions of her condition only increased as the days turned into weeks. Her illness only seemed to worsen, and she gained weight from lack of exercise. Sasuke found himself having to take more time off from work than expected, which didn't please the Lady Tsunade.

"What?" she snapped, slamming her hands down on her desk. Her light brown eyes were furious, glimmering with irritation. "You've already taken an entire week off from work! You can't avoid your responsibilities!"

Tsunade grabbed a mission request from her desk and held it up to Sasuke in order to inform him that requests were stacking up. After all, he was the most skilled captain of the ANBU Black Ops that Konoha possessed. His missions were always successful, a factor that mostly likely caused the rise in his popularity around not only the Land of Fire, but other nations as well. Sasuke knew this just as well as Tsunade did, but what choice did he have? With his wife bedridden, he couldn't leave her behind.

Then it struck him. All Sasuke had to do was remind Tsunade that Sakura was her beloved pupil, and if she were to die from this horrible illness due to a lack of care, it would cause devastation all throughout the village and beyond its walls.

"I apologize," Sasuke said firmly, "but I can't go back to work until Sakura is on her feet again. I don't know how she got sick or how long it'll last, but if she doesn't have someone to take care of her then who knows what will happen." Sasuke paused for a second when he saw Tsunade's eyes widen. "Sakura is Konoha's most talented Medical-Nin, and if she dies, then the Medical Core loses a large fraction of its power."

With that, Sasuke gained a vacation from his post. Tsunade sat in silence for twenty minutes before allowing Sasuke to vacate his position. She told him that he was free to return whenever he saw fit. Sasuke shook his head once and then returned home, only to find Sakura vomiting into the toilet once again, and he held her hair as he always did.

"Your wounds seem to be healing slower than usual," Sasuke commented, running a warm washrag over her lips. He kneeled before her as she sat on the living room couch, wearing only a loose navy blue robe and bandages.

"My chakra's been acting up," she murmured.

"It's not just that," he continued. "You sleep all through the night and don't wake up until noontime or later." Her stomach growled, interrupting him. "And your appetite seems to have increased as well. It doesn't add up."

Not wanting to linger on the subject, Sakura tried to brighten her facial expression in order to hide any uneasy feelings that might be surfacing. She smiled at him. "What did Lady Tsunade have to say?"

Sasuke rose up to his feet. "She wasn't too pleased with my request at first," he sighed, "but when I explained things to her a little more thoroughly, she understood and gave me a temporary leave. I'm free to return whenever I see fit."

Sakura released a calm breath. Her brain told her to nag at him for his choice, convince him to return to work by any means, and remind him that she was strong enough to handle this by herself. Her heart put up an argument against her head and won as it usually did. She knew that in her current condition, she needed all the help she could get. Even with her and Sasuke taking unconventional holidays from their jobs, money wouldn't be a problem. With the amount of money they made combined, they could pay for necessities and still have plenty left over for other needs. There was also the large fortune Sasuke's clan left behind, but Sasuke made it clear that it wasn't to be touched unless absolutely necessary.

"You hungry?" Sasuke inquired.

Sakura's stomach growled again, answering _that_ question. Sasuke smirked and headed into the kitchen, most likely to concoct a tremendously healthy meal for dinner. Sakura rose from the sofa and slowly stumbled into the laundry room. She reached into a basket of clean clothes, which still needed folding. After extracting a fresh outfit, she staggered into the bathroom. Sakura grew tired of wearing Sasuke's oversized robes, and desperately wished to change into something that fit her body. She locked the door behind her.

She shed the robe, letting it fall to the floor. Her bra and underwear were a matching set, colored bright turquoise, made from fine silk with lace on the edges. As she stared into the mirror, Sakura began to realize how long her hair came to be. It reached the middle of her hair now. Her face still maintained its heart shape, but it seemed slimmer than before. She couldn't stop herself from running her hands over her body, memorizing her new frame. Her hands came to a sudden halt when she reached her stomach.

"No," Sakura whispered. She turned to her side, her eyes glued to the girl in the mirror. "No, this can't be…"

She wanted to deny it, but it would serve no function. The truth was revealing itself without any timidity. Her stomach was beginning to balloon, slowly inflating. Sakura wouldn't need a test in order to confirm her suspicions. She was pregnant. Before an ocean of emotions could flood her insides, Sasuke knocked on the door. Sakura quickly unlocked the door, allowing him to enter before he realized she locked the door.

Even though she was shirtless, Sasuke kept his eyes planted on her grief-stricken face. They locked gazes, and Sasuke saw her expression turn soft soft. An expression so soft that even he hadn't seen it plastered on her face before. As her eyes sank down to her stomach, Sasuke furrowed his brow in confusion.

Sakura reached out and grabbed his hand, shattering his confusion. His dark eyes widened as she placed it over her stomach, pressing his palm flat on her ivory skin. There were no words necessary. Sasuke wasn't a fool, nor was he ignorant. He knew what this meant, and Sakura must have known as well, which is why she remained silent.

Sasuke always spoke of rebuilding his clan. When he expressed this ambition before his comrades after his promotion from a lowly academy student to a Genin, this ambition was nothing more than a bundle of words. Words that possessed no meaning. Thinking back to the day when he revealed his wild objective, he realized that the twelve-year-old Uchiha Sasuke was ignorant, gullible. The reason being that he didn't know what his words even meant. When he spoke of rebuilding the clan, did he mean that he wanted to restore honor to his last name? Did it mean that he wanted to settle down with a wife who would birth as many children as he requested? He didn't know, and on this lovely day in June – more than a month since Sakura fell mysteriously ill – his words were coming back to haunt him.

What took him by surprise more than his sudden epiphany was Sakura's reaction to this. He often heard that when women found out they were expecting, panic coursed through their minds and they struggled to tell the father. Then there was Haruno Sakura, a girl who didn't seem to understand anyone around her or the events that circulated her life, but willingly accepted them without any complaining. This resilient woman agreed to be his wife in spite of everything he did to her. The trauma, the pain, the lies, the cold glares, the insults, the wounds, the darkness. Now she was willingly going to bear his child without any sign of fear. No matter how much he tried to analyze this woman and the emotions that drove her motives, it would serve him no purpose. Deep within a woman's heart rested a hidden chamber that even the eyes of an Uchiha couldn't see through.

"You're…happy?" Sasuke agonized. His voice was low, barely intelligible. His fear was evident, but he didn't remove his hand from Sakura's belly. He half-expected her to respond angrily, but she remained calm.

"Yes," Sakura affirmed. "I'm very happy."

"What if it's like me?" he blurted.

It was clearly not something he intended to say, and instantly expressed regret in letting such a horrible question slip out of his mouth. Yet he couldn't stop himself from blabbering, openly confiding in her, expressing his worries. He asked her what would happen if the baby didn't like him, if he turned out to be like his father, if he wasn't a good father and did all the wrong things. Sakura remained silent up until he finished speaking.

Again, he expected her to lash out at him, but her blissful aura didn't dissipate. Sakura placed a hand on his cheek, lifting his face in order to stare directly into his eyes.

"There's nothing to be afraid of, Sasuke," she assured softly. "There's nothing to be afraid of at all." She paused and rubbed his cheek with her thumb. "You are _strong_ and you are _smart. _ You are good."

Sakura drew back only for an instant when she saw droplets of saltwater well up in Sasuke's dark eyes, but no tears followed. Instead, he simply dropped his head and wrapped his arms around her barely concealed torso, pulling her in for a tight embrace. Even though he tried to cover it up, Sakura could feel him shaking.

_Heaven help him,_ she prayed. _He's a child. He's a child._


	5. five

**A/N:** This story will be ending soon, so I want to thank all of you for reading and reviewing along the way! It really does mean a lot to me. Thanks so much for your feedback, kind words, favorites, follows, reviews, etc.

* * *

The only source of light within the dark room shined through the curtains hanging over the window. The lights were off by order of the nurse, who claimed that it relaxed the patient. As a Medical-Nin herself, Sakura never heard of this method before. Even though she found it slightly unorthodox, she allowed this unfamiliar nurse to do whatever she pleased.

This check up began no differently than any other, except for the fact that Shizune was not present. Ever since Sakura's pregnancy became public knowledge to her friends and acquaintances, Shizune acted as her own personal doctor. Even though Sakura was a talented Medical-Nin, she wasn't quite experienced in the pregnancy field. Therefore, she couldn't simply check up on herself. Shizune was noticeably absent today, leaving Sakura with a different Medical-Nin, someone whom she never saw before.

"First off, how far along are you?" the nurse asked.

Sakura looked down at her bare stomach, rubbing the palm of her hand along the skin. "Oh, I'm four months along."

These questions were mandatory, and Sakura never got tired of telling people how far along she was in her pregnancy. She grew closer to delivering this child each day. Her happiness grew in size as often as the baby did, and Sakura could hardly wait to meet her future child.

"I've never seen you before," Sakura said to the nurse. "Are you new to the facility?

The nurse blushed, brushing her bangs out of her face. "Yes ma'am. I just started work here last week after I got the promotion from Lady Tsunade."

As the nurse fiddled with some of her equipment, Sakura examined her closely. She was about the same height as Sakura, although her body was more curvaceous and thick. Her pin-straight hair fell around her shoulders, and was a strange shade of burgundy. Her eyes were gleaming with childish innocence, the brown in them not run pale by the trials of adulthood.

"May I ask who you are?" Sakura asked.

Even though Sakura felt she was being intrusive, she hid it with a cheerful tone. The little cherry blossom had no problem maintaining a blissful appearance, rather it be to cover up her inner feelings or to trick her enemies. Her dear friends, Sai and Naruto, knew this better than anyone else did.

"My name is Hashimoto Akiko," the woman replied. "I'm fifteen-years-old."

Sakura couldn't stop herself from gasping in response. She suspected that the nurse was young, but she didn't expect her to be a teenager. Just hearing her age made Sakura nostalgic, and the days she spent in training with Tsunade flashed through her mind in a matter of seconds. Sakura was a year younger when she began tutelage under Tsunade, and she was the same age as this girl when she began working in the infirmary. At the time Sakura took up occupation in Konoha's hospital, a fifteen-year-old Medical-Nin was unheard of and rare to say the least.

"You're only fifteen?" Sakura queried in disbelief. Her bottle green eyes widened with bafflement, and Akiko's cheeks only burned brighter.

"Yes ma'am," she affirmed. She hugged her clipboard tightly, crushing it against her chest. "Actually Haruno-san, Shizune did originally plan to come here today but I insisted on coming myself. You see, it's been a lifelong dream of mine to meet you in person."

Sakura pointed to herself, her bewilderment deepening. "Why would you want to meet me?"

The pink in Akiko's cheeks faded. She bowed her head down to Sakura before answering. "It was several years ago when the Akatsuki invaded Konoha. I was running through the streets trying to find my parents when I got buried beneath a pile of heavy bricks from a detonated building." Her brown eyes began to shimmer as she continued. "You were nearby, and even though you were injured, you rushed to my side immediately. I broke both of my legs, cracked my head open, and even had a broken arm. One of the other Medical-Nins said that you couldn't fix me, but you prevailed. You _saved_ me."

As Sakura listened to this young girl's incredible story, her heart skipped a beat. No one ever paid her such a beautiful compliment before, and even though she wanted to react with grace, she couldn't. Countless tragedies occurred when the Akatsuki invaded, and Sakura ran around the entire village trying to heal as many as she possibly could. She had no recollection of their faces, their injuries, their names. They were all shadowy figures in the back of her mind. Even now as she searched the hallways of her memory for this girl, nothing came to mind.

Sakura smiled warmly at the teenage girl, not wanting to let off that she had no memory of rescuing this child. "There's no need to thank me. I was only doing my job."

Akiko didn't help by continuing with her praise. She informed Sakura that after that incident, she set her goals on becoming a strong kunoichi. In her own words, Akiko said that she "wanted to be just like the woman with the candy-colored hair." As Sakura continued to listen to the girl's chatter throughout the check up, she felt an odd mixture of feelings swirling within her stomach. She wasn't sure whether to feel guilty for being unable to remember this child or happy that she inspired a young girl to become all she could be.

"The pregnancy seems to be going well so far. The fetus is growing at a healthy rate and you're in good condition." Akiko suddenly turned professional when overlooking the data she collected on the paperwork attached to her clipboard. "I can only estimate your due date. The baby will mostly likely arrive between late January and early February."

Sakura only managed to nod her head and smile in response. After Akiko informed her that Sasuke was waiting for her in the lobby, Sakura quickly dressed herself and exited the bright hospital room. Even though she sometimes worked in them, Sakura wasn't very fond of hospitals. She often found herself haunted by dullness whenever she was in them.

A smile formed on Sakura's face when she saw Sasuke sitting in the lobby, clearly anxious as he was tapping his fingers on the wooden handles of his chair. When he took notice of Sakura, he immediately jumped up from his chair and grabbed her bag. For a moment, they stared at each other in silence before exiting the Konoha Infirmary and into the sunset. The streets were beginning to empty, and the young couple walked in slow motion, enjoying the tranquility.

"How did it go?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura's eyes flickered over to him, but he didn't return her gaze. Instead, he simply stared straight ahead with monotonous eyes.

"It went well," she answered. "The doctor told me that the baby is healthy and that I'm in good condition. Everything is going smoothly. She was even able to estimate my due date."

Sakura noticed that this seemingly caught Sasuke's interest, as his eyes slightly widened when she notified him. "When should we be expecting?"

"Between January and February."

Sasuke froze in his tracks, and Sakura seconded his motion. His coal black eyes shifted to hers, and Sakura could feel tension rising between them. A strong aura radiated off his body as he glared at her, and a small tinge of fright washed down her spine. The expression he wore on his face depicted an emotion she never saw in him before, but she couldn't name it.

"I see," he whispered. He turned his head forward and wrapped his hand around hers, pulling her along as he continued walking at a slow place. "So I have until then to get things right."


	6. six

As Sakura laid still and silent underneath the thick blanket, she felt a pair of black eyes trained on her back. She knew that it was Sasuke, lingering over the bed in order to keep watch on his beloved and soon-to-be born child.

Sakura couldn't bring herself to feel annoyed. It was in Sasuke's nature to be protective of his loved ones. He displayed this trait throughout his life, becoming concerned and defensive when his teammates came face to face with danger or injuries. This characteristic only became more visible to the eye as he became an adult.

Honestly, she felt thankful for his cautious nature. Since her stomach was now the size of a watermelon, Sakura was having trouble performing tasks such as laundry and dishes. Even getting up and down the stairs became a hassle. Of course, Sakura didn't always help. There were times where she assured him that she could handle these chores by herself, and since Sasuke wasn't one to pry, he let her be.

Feeling her body temperature increase underneath his gaze, Sakura turned her head to meet eyes with Sasuke. "Your clothes are still on," she murmured.

He raised an eyebrow. "Did you want me to take them off?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "I thought you might change into your sleepwear."

"I just got home. Besides, you shouldn't be left alone when you're ready to go into labor any minute now."

Although Sakura briefly wondered where Sasuke wandered off to so late at night, she realized how close she was to delivering. It was late January, and the baby was bound to show up within the next two weeks. This made Sakura both anxious and excited to meet her unborn child. She and Sasuke prepared themselves for all possibilities and picked out names. Now all they had to do was wait in anticipation.

When Sasuke crawled into bed after changing his clothes, Sakura fell asleep. Though she knew he wouldn't be sleeping, Sasuke's presence brought her enough comfort to rest easily through the night and beyond.

"Sakura, there's something I must speak to you about regarding your delivery."

Sakura and Sasuke both met eyes with Tsunade, who was sitting on the opposite side of their dining room table with Shizune at her side.

Once Tsunade was sure that she had their full attention, she continued. "I'm sure you're both aware that your future child will be the first Uchiha born in twenty-nine years. The last infant who came out of the Uchiha clan was none other than Sasuke, and he was the youngest in his family before their annihilation."

Sakura glanced at her husband for any signs of negative emotion on his face, but he remained monotonous.

"Since word has gotten around of Sakura's pregnancy, I can't allow her to give birth in the hospital. I'm afraid we have to move you a few miles outside of the village. There's a small house used for such events hidden within the trees. You will give birth there."

"Why is that?" Sakura demanded.

"In order to ensure the safety of Konoha and your family simultaneously. You must both remember that the Uchiha clan has many enemies, and so does Sasuke. Any of them could use this as an opportunity to start a war, and we can't afford to risk it. The Third Hokage took a similar precaution when Uzumaki Kushina gave birth to her son, Naruto. Even before that, Uzumaki Mito was also forced to give birth outside of Konoha's walls."

Sakura frowned. "Those are both very specific cases of Jinchuuriki," she growled. "I understand that Sasuke and his family have enemies, but that doesn't mean I should be denied the right to gave birth in a regular–"

Sasuke rested a hand on Sakura's shoulder, silencing her. They locked eyes on one another, and after several minutes of quiet, Sakura grimaced uncomfortably.

"I know it's not how you imagined it, but it's for the best."

Sakura's heart began to increase rapidly in frustration. She couldn't believe Sasuke was agreeing to this, and his tone so soft that she found it sickening. He wasn't the type of person to convince people into doing things or sugarcoat his words. This sudden shift in his personality caused her blood to boil, but before she could argue against him, he proceeded to speak.

"Sakura… I wish we could have the baby in a regular setting as much as you do, but we can't afford that luxury." His grip on her shoulder tightened. "The fact that the Uchiha clan still has deadly enemies out there is bad enough, but you must also remember that I'm not exactly notorious for making the best choices in my adolescence. Before I came back to Konoha, I gained enemies in every country for the crimes I committed not only with those of Taka, but on my own. Since it's become public knowledge that there will be another child in the Uchiha clan, those people could use that to their advantage and take revenge for the misdeeds of me and my family."

A lump formed in Sakura's throat, and her eyes began burning as if tears were about to spill. Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"I lost my family when I was a child, and a few short years later I lost my friends. I've only tried to rebuild those bridges ever since I came back to Konoha. I don't ever want to experience that again. Losing everything and everyone precious to me because of my own weakness. I won't allow–"

"I understand, Lady Tsunade."

Sakura only managed to speak those words after successfully defeating her urge to cry. It took a tremendous amount of effort to swallow the huge lump in her throat. When she felt her body temperature decrease, she sighed with relief. The last thing she wanted was to appear weak in front of her loved ones. Of course, Sasuke didn't help with his riveting words.

Tsunade smiled. "Very well; I'm glad you understand the situation. Shizune will deliver you to the location of the delivery. We will have ANBU Black Ops stationed around the perimeter."

"I'll be going ahead in order to make sure that the defense formation is in check," Sasuke informed them. "Those are my men out there, after all."

Sakura nodded, and then turned to Tsunade. "Excuse me, but if Shizune isn't going to be delivering the child, then who is?"

"You'll see when you get there," Shizune replied. "It's a surprise."

Sasuke removed his hand from Sakura's shoulder, and then bowed his head to Tsunade. She then rose from her chair. After instructing Shizune and Sakura to follow behind them after an hour's passing, they departed.

"I'm impressed," Tsunade commented.

"Impressed with what?" Sasuke asked.

"I didn't know you had such a way with words," she explained. "I think you and I both know that if you hadn't intervened and knocked in your two cents, she would have put up a tough fight. If it weren't for those pretty words of yours, we would have never gotten the job done."

"You're wrong."

"Huh?"

"You're wrong," he repeated.

Tsunade froze in her tracks, placing her hands on her hips. No one ever told her she was wrong before, so it naturally infuriated her when Sasuke did. She quickly caught up to him after realizing that he wasn't going to stop and argue with her. When she returned to his side, Sasuke continued.

"I only spoke the truth," he stated. "There's no reason to hide things from her anymore."

Another agonized scream filled the air, causing the hair on Sasuke's arms to rise. Never before had he seen Sakura in so much pain. With her jaw clenched tightly and her face expressing the aches curling throughout her entire body, she wasn't holding anything back. Her growls and screams only made things worse. Even on the battlefield, she withheld her suffering and acted as if her injuries were nothing. Childbirth turned out to be another matter.

Sasuke turned his head to the blonde-haired nurse standing at the end of the bed. She kept her pale blue eyes trained underneath the blanket covering Sakura's legs, carefully examining her progress. Sasuke admitted to himself that it was a discomforting scene, but he didn't voice any of his distress. He attempted to remain calm and composed.

"Ino."

Ino raised her head and looked at Sasuke. "Sasuke?"

Within an instant, his forced composure cracked. "I haven't seen Sakura in this much pain before. Is she all right?"

Ino furrowed her brow. "She's _fine!_ Just keep on holding her hand for comfort."

Sakura screamed yet again, causing Sasuke to tighten his grip on her hand. He felt somewhat afraid that she might break his hand, but he pushed it into the back of his mind and frowned. He focused his eyes on her disgruntled face.

"Are you _sure_ she's–"

Ino rolled her eyes. "You're a full grown man and chief of the ANBU Black Ops," she reminded him, "so quit trembling like a child and act like it! This is why women are the ones who carry children. Any man would have dropped dead within the first trimester."

Sasuke still felt concern for his wife, but he nodded his head and tried to follow Ino's advice. He was a bit surprised at how harsh she had been with them, but he shouldn't have expected any less from her. Ino wasn't the type of person to sugarcoat her words or deny annoyance she felt with others.

"You're almost there, Sakura-san," Akiko said. "We can see its head."

Sakura's eyes snapped open for a split second after she heard that, and breathed heavily for a few seconds before she began pushing once again. Her grasp on Sasuke' hand tightened, and he cringed in minor pain. If the baby didn't come out soon, the bones in his hand might shatter into tiny pieces. He sighed with relief when Ino told Sakura to give one more big push.

"_Uwah! Uwah!"_

Sasuke's heart began pining when he heard a small cry echo through the small building. His eyes widened when Sakura's hand fell down to her side. As Ino began washing the blood off the tiny infant in her arms with Akiko's assistance, Sakura opened her eyes and began breathing steadily. Sasuke wasn't sure whether he should feel disturbed or amused that Sakura was behaving as if the last few hours weren't excruciating and stressful.

"You did it," Sasuke hummed as he moved her hair out of her face. "You can rest now."

Sakura smiled. "Sorry…about…your hand," she panted.

"It's nothing to worry about."

Sakura's eyes quickly flickered over to Ino when she and Akiko approached them. Sasuke took a few steps back in order to give them space, knowing that it was tradition for the mother to see the child before the father. Sakura and Ino exchanged smiles with one another as Ino slowly placed the infant in Sakura's arms. Sasuke leaned over the bed and gazed at his newborn child.

Ino crossed her arms. "It's a healthy baby girl, born on the second day of February."

Sakura's eyes softened at the sight of her new daughter, wrapped in a pink blanket, resting so peacefully. She stroked the baby's face, and tears began streaming down her cheeks.

"Mikoto," she breathed. "I finally get to meet you."


	7. seven

Parenthood and marriage were surely two things that Sasuke didn't expect to happen to him. Then again, nobody ever does. They happened to him so suddenly, but this new lifestyle brought him unfathomable happiness. Instead of returning to work as he planned to, Sasuke spent most of his time at home with his new family. It had been two months since Sakura gave birth to their daughter, but she lost too much blood during the procedure and was bedridden under orders from Ino.

Even now, Sakura was lying in bed next to the infant she brought into the world. Under normal circumstances, she would have been displeased with such precautions, but all she wanted to do was spend time with her child and therefore found herself enjoying this vacation. Sakura reached out to stroke Mikoto's forehead, making eye contact with Sasuke. He was sitting in a chair at the bedside.

"I hope she has Sharingan," the cherry blossom murmured. "She already looks so much like you, so I would be a shame if she didn't inherit your Kekkei Genkai."

Sasuke didn't respond. He knew that his genes were rather strong, but he didn't expect any of his children to inherit them.

"Did your mother have Sharingan?" Sakura queried

"Not that I'm aware of," Sasuke replied. "There haven't been a lot of women born into the Uchiha clan before, and the few who were didn't possess any significant abilities. They could fight and they were strong, but I'm not sure if any of them acquired Kekkei Genkai. It only gets passed down to a few select members, and there are some people who believe that those who inherit bloodline abilities are chosen by fate or some higher power."

Sakura raised her eyebrows. She never took him as someone who believed in urban legends or myths. In fact, Sasuke never expressed his opinion unless he knew all the facts concerning the subject. She asked him if he honestly believed that, and when he simply shrugged in response, Sakura frowned.

"Let's hope this little one does," she hummed.

Sasuke furrowed his brow. He wasn't aware that Sakura was so educated on the Uchiha clan, but he shouldn't have expected any less from her. Sakura was an avid reader, and she most likely read about the Uchiha clan in one of her books. He found it odd that she constantly asked him for clarifications and confirmations, as if she wanted to hear the information directly from a member of the clan. Ever since Mikoto was born, she asked about it more often than she did before. Of course, these conversations about his family formed one question that Sasuke _had _to ask.

"Sakura," he said softly, "why are you so set on her being like the rest of us?"

"Huh?"

"What is it with you? Why do you want her to inherit the Uchiha clan's Kekkei Genkai?" he repeated. "You know what the Sharingan could do to her…"

The two locked eyes for several seconds before Sakura sat up in order to adjust her robe. Even though her breasts were briefly exposed, Sasuke remained completely focused. He thought she was avoiding the question, but he allowed her time to form a reasonable answer. After taking a deep breath, Sakura finally answered his query.

"I do want her to inherit the Kekkei Genkai, but I wouldn't love her any less if she didn't. The reason is simple: she's an Uchiha. She carries your last name and your blood flows through your veins, and–"

"So does yours," Sasuke reminded her. "We're both a part of her Sakura, and there's just as much of you in there as there is me.

"I know," Sakura insisted, "but there's no reason why she shouldn't be able to use the jutsu in your clan's arsenal simply because she was born with weak genes. I want her to be as strong as she can be."

Sasuke pressed his lips into a hard line. He could slightly understand Sakura's desire for their daughter to be strong, but it didn't matter to him either way. Personally, he didn't care whether Mikoto obtained the Uchiha clan's Kekkei Genkai or not. He and Sakura planned to have more children in the future, and there was a chance that at least one of them would be born with the bloodline abilities. A part of him felt it would be better if none of them possessed Sharingan given the dark history that revolved around the clan's abilities. Nonetheless, he felt no need to express these thoughts to Sakura, knowing that it would turn into a heated debate. Rather than explain, Sasuke rose from his seat, crawled into bed, and wrapped his arm around his daughter in order to pull her closer.

"My father used to say that it's only possible to tell if an Uchiha child has obtained the power of the clan in two ways," Sasuke explained. "The parents of the child can have a member of the Hyuga clan examine the child's insides with their Byakugan or…"

"Or?"

"They simply awaken their Sharingan," he shrugged. "You see, when my brother and I were children, my father worried that I might not have inherited the Sharingan because I didn't activate it at a young age. My brother activated his Sharingan when he was still a toddler, but I was nine when I activated mine…and my father wasn't even alive to see it. So…even if she doesn't have Kekkei Genkai, she'll have plenty of siblings and one of them is bound to have it."

Sakura grimaced. "The doctors told me that I shouldn't engage in any sexual activity for the next few months. On top of that, we have a child who will be waking up all through the night. So we won't be adding another member to this family until_ I_ give the cue."

A smile formed on Sasuke's lips. "I won't do anything you're not prepared for, and I wouldn't force you into anything."

As he lay there, Sasuke listened to Sakura's heartbeat and Mikoto's breathing as if they were a lullaby. Bliss jolted through his body, and he thanked the heavens for the miraculous threads that brought him here. Everything finally fell into place, and it was splendid.

* * *

**A/N:** It brings me a great deal of happiness to tell you all that this story is hereby complete. I enjoyed writing this piece so much, and I'm happy it was so well-received. Thank you for reading, reviewing, favoriting, following. I appreciate it very much!


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